Use stairs, stay fit!

So goes the saying in many of the major subway stations in the world - including the subway in the city I live in.

I had to travel to a different city today for work - a city that, while falling under a different administration is connected to the main city (mine) via an above ground(in most places) subway. It wasn't a scheduled workout day for me, and yet I got a pretty decent workout in simply by using the subway, and - yes, you guessed it - taking the STAIRS instead of the escalators.

The average height of the above ground parts of the subway here is between 15-19 meters above ground, which is a pretty decent climb, especially if done repeatedly, and especially if one takes the stairs from underground all the way to the top. Trust me, a few rounds of this and you WILL feel it, regardless of the shape your currently in. YOW!

Those who follow my emails regularly know that I used to climb a hill daily in China a few years back - and that one routine was enough to get me in the VERY BEST shape of my life. There are no hills here where I live, and the subway stairs are the closest thing I have to hills, so I make full use of them.

And I sure did that well today - I had to change three trains to get to where I was going, and ditto for the way back - which meant four solid climbs in all - not bad at all. These climbs weren't quite the hill climbs I used to partake of on a daily basis in China, but they still got the heart pumping, blood flowing and sweat pouring like nothing else.

Nothing quite beats the feeling of "sore and tired" muscles and "overall fatigue" (in a good way!) after climbing a hill and the same can probably be said of climbing steep stairs repeatedly. Nothing, I repeat, nothing compares to the "wobbly" feeling in one's thighs after a particularly hard climb. I'm even feeling it in my upper back and shoulders as I type this - and it's a great, great, feeling to have.

What's really amazing is most folks ignore this simple and effective "tool" that's staring them right in the face daily, and that requires absolute no extra expense to use. I saw rows and rows of tired looking, bent over, exhausted "professionals" with their laptops slouching along on the escalators as I took the steps two at a time - and these, my friend are the very people that carp on and on about not having the time to get fit, requiring the latest fancy machines to exercises on, gym memberships, and so forth.

All nonsense - just think of how good these people would actually FEEL if they simply took the time to climb some stairs on a daily basis - and think of the benefits this would have on their overall fitness levels.

Anyway, yours truly showed up soaked in sweat for his meeting today, which was on the third floor of a building. The elevator was the first thing that stared me in the face here, but needless to say I ignored it, and made a beeline for the stairs.

Might sound strange to the general majority out there - but I wouldn't trade this "strange behavior" for anything in the world!

Anyway, moral of the story is - use the stairs regularly, and stay fit. And if you can find a long, steep hill to climb daily - that's even better! It's a simple and time-tested theory - that has, most importantly, been proven to WORK - and it will work for YOU as well!